Pretties u-2 Page 12

  She gave them a pretty smile. "Thanks for everything."

  Tally and Zane sat in silence for a minute after the uglies had left, watching the clearing from a thick stand of trees. The plastic slalom flags drooped miserably in the rain, the wind barely lifting them. Rainwater gathered in spots, the shallow pools reflecting the gray sky like rippling mirrors. Tally remembered flying between the flags on her hover-board in ugly days, learning to bank and turn. Back when she and Shay were really friends…

  It was impossible to guess why Shay would be visiting this spot. Maybe it was nothing but a few Crims practicing their hoverboarding, figuring it was a great way to stay bubbly. No big deal.

  As they sat, Tally realized she was out of excuses for not telling Zane everything. It was time to admit what she'd done to the Smoke and how she'd told Shay about the cure, and past time to bring up what Dr. Cable had revealed about Zane. But Tally wasn't looking forward to the conversation, and being soaking wet and cold wasn't helping. Her coat's heating was already turned up to maximum. The bubbliness from hoverboarding had worn off, replaced by Tally's anger at herself for having waited this long. The always-listening cuffs made it too easy to avoid mentioning uncomfortable subjects.

  "So what happened between you and Shay?" Zane said. His voice stayed soft, but carried an edge of frustration.

  "Her memories are starting to come back." Tally stared into a mud puddle before her, watching drops that had made their way down through the soaked pine trees distort its surface. "On the night of the breakthrough, she got really mad at me. She blames me for the Specials finding the Smoke. Which, I guess, is pretty much what happened. I betrayed them."

  He nodded. "I figured that. All the stories you two told — back before the cure — they had you rescuing her from the Smoke. That sounds like pretty-talk for betrayal."

  Tally looked up at him. "So you knew?"

  "That you'd gone undercover for Special Circumstances? I'd guessed it."

  "Oh." Tally didn't know whether to feel relieved or ashamed. Of course, Zane had cooperated with Dr. Cable himself, so maybe he understood. "I didn't want to do it, Zane. I mean, at first I went out there to bring Shay back, so they'd make me pretty, but then I changed my mind. I wanted to stay in the Smoke. I tried to destroy the tracker they'd given me, but I wound up setting it off. Even when I tried to do the right thing, I betrayed everyone."

  Zane faced her, his eyes intense under his hood. "Tally, we're all manipulated by the people who run this city. Shay should know that."

  "I wish that was all," Tally said. "I also stole David from her. Back when we were in the Smoke."

  "Oh, him again." Zane shook his head. "Well, I guess she's pretty pissed off at you right now. At least that'll keep her bubbly."

  "Yeah, really bubbly." Tally swallowed. "And there's one more thing that's got her mad."

  He waited silently, rain dripping from his hood.

  "I told her about the cure."

  "You what?" Zane's whisper cut through the rain like a hiss of steam.

  "I had to." Tally spread her hands imploringly. "She had it halfway figured out already, Zane, and was thinking she could cure herself. She climbed the Valentino tower like we did, thinking that was what had changed us. But of course it didn't work, not like the pills. She kept asking me what happened to us. She said I owed her, after everything I did to her back in ugly days."

  Zane swore under his breath. "So you told her about the pills? Great. That's one more thing that can go wrong."

  "But she's totally bubbly, Zane. I don't think she'll give us away," Tally said, then shrugged. "If anything, finding out about the pills made her furious enough to stay bubbly for life."

  "Furious? Because you're cured and she's not?"

  "No." Tally sighed. "Because you are."

  "What?"

  "I owed her, and you got the other pill."

  "But there wasn't time to—" "I know that, Zane. But she doesn't. To her, it looks like …" She shook her head, feeling hot tears in her eyes. The rest of her was so cold, her fingers were slowly going numb. She began to tremble.

  "It's okay, Tally." Zane reached out and took her hand, squeezing hard through the thick glove.

  "You should have heard her, Zane. She really hates me."

  "Listen, I'm sorry about that. But I'm glad it was me."

  She looked up, her vision blurring with tears. "Yeah. Thanks for all the headaches, you mean."

  "Better than staying a pretty-brain," he said. "But that's not what I meant. That day was about more than just finding those pills. I'm glad about…you and me."

  She looked up and found him smiling. His fingers, still interlaced with hers, also trembled in the cold. Tally managed to smile back. "Me too."

  "Don't let Shay make you feel bad about us, Tally."

  "Of course not." She shook her head, realizing how much she meant it. Whatever Shay thought, Zane had been the right person to share the cure with. He had kept her bubbly, pushing her to pass the Smokies' tests, pressing her to dare the unproven pills. Tally had found more than a cure for pretty-headedness that day — she'd found someone to move forward with, past everything that had gone wrong last summer. It had been littlie days when Peris had promised to stay her best friend forever — but the day he'd turned sixteen, Peris had left her behind in Uglyville. Then Tally had lost Shay's friendship, betraying her to Special Circumstances and stealing David from her. Now even David was gone, missing somewhere in the wild and half-erased from her memories. He hadn't even bothered to bring her the pills— he'd left that job to Croy. Tally could guess what that meant. But Zane…

  Tally stared into his golden, perfect eyes. He was here with her right now, in the flesh, and she'd been stupid to let what was between them get tangled up in her messy past. "I should have told you about Shay earlier. But the smart walls …"

  "It's okay. But you can trust me. Always."

  She pressed his hand in both of hers. "I know."

  He reached up to touch her face. "We didn't really know each other very well that day, did we?"

  "We took a chance, I guess. Weird how that happened."

  He laughed. "I think that's the way it always happens. Usually without mysterious pills or Special Circumstances pounding on the door. But it's always taking a risk, when you…kiss someone new."

  Tally nodded, and leaned forward. Their lips met, the kiss slow and intense in the chill of the rain. She could feel him trembling, and the muddy ground beneath them was cold, but their two hoods joined to block out the world, making a space that became warm from their mingling breath.

  Tally whispered, "I'm so glad it was you with me that day."

  "Me too."

  "I — Ah!" She pulled away, wiping at her face. A trickle of water had crawled inside Tally's hood and was running down her cheek like a cold, malevolent tear.

  He laughed and stood up, pulling her to her feet. "Come on, we can't stay here forever. Let's go back to Pulcher and get breakfast, and some dry clothes."

  "I wasn't uncomfortable."

  He smiled, but indicated his wrist and lowered his voice. "If we sit in one place too long, someone might get curious about what the big deal is out here in Uglyville."

  "Whatever it is," she whispered.

  But Zane was right. They should go home. They hadn't eaten anything all day except for a few calorie-purgers and some coffee. Their winter coats were heated, but between the physical effort of hoverboarding and the shock of getting dumped into the freezing river, Tally was starting to feel exhaustion and cold down in her bones. Hunger, the cold, and the kiss were all dizzy-making.

  Zane snapped his fingers, and his board rose into the air.

  "Wait a second," she said softly. "There's one more thing I should tell you about the night of the breakthrough."

  "Okay."

  "After I took you home …" The thought of Dr. Cable's feral face made her shiver, but Tally took a calming breath. She'd been stupid not to drag Zane outside sooner, ge
tting him away from Pulcher Mansion's smart walls to tell him about her encounter with the doctor. She didn't want any secrets between them.

  "What's wrong, Tally?"

  "She was waiting for me…," she said. "Dr. Cable."

  The name made Zane's face go blank for a moment, then he nodded. "I remember her."

  "You do?"

  "She's kind of hard to forget," Zane said. He paused, staring out into the clearing. Tally wondered if he was going to say more.

  Finally, she said, "She made me a weird sort of offer. She wanted to know if I—" "Shhh!" he hissed.

  "What—," she began, but Zane silenced her with a gloved hand. He turned and crouched in the mud, pulling her down beside him. Through the trees, a group of figures were marching into the clearing. They moved slowly, huddled in almost identical winter gear, their left wrists wrapped in black scarves. But Tally recognized one of them instantly, copper eyes bright and flash tattoo spinning in the cold.

  It was Shay.

  Ritual

  Tally counted ten of them, slogging with quiet determination across the muddy ground. They reached the middle of the clearing and arranged themselves in a wide circle around one of the slalom flags. Shay moved to stand in the center, turning slowly, peering at the others from under her hood. The others settled into place about an arm's length apart, facing Shay and waiting silently.

  After a long moment motionless, she dropped her winter coat to the ground, pulling off her gloves and spreading her arms. She wore only trousers, a sleeveless white T-shirt, and the fake metal cuff on her left wrist. Tipping her head back, she let the rain pound against her face.

  Tally shivered and gathered her own coat tighter around her. Was Shay trying to freeze herself to death?

  The other figures did nothing for a moment. Then, slowly and with awkward glances at one another, they followed her example, pulling off coats and gloves and sweaters. As their hoods came down, Tally recognized two more Crims. Ho was there — one of Shay's old friends who had run away to the Smoke only to come back on his own. Tally also recognized Tachs, who'd joined the clique a few weeks before she had.

  But the other seven pretties weren't Crims at all. They placed their coats on the ground gingerly, hugging themselves against the bitter cold. When Ho and Tachs spread their arms, the others followed reluctantly. Rain ran down their faces and plastered the white shirts to their skin.

  "What are they doing?" Zane whispered.

  Tally only shook her head. She noticed that Shay had gotten new surge, some sort of raised tattoo hash marks on her arms. They extended from elbow to wrist, and Ho and Tachs seemed to have copied the design.

  Shay began to speak, facing upward, addressing the flag overhead like a crazy person talking to nobody in particular. Her voice didn't carry across the clearing except for a word here and there. Tally couldn't make sense of it — the cadence sounded like a chant, almost like the prayers that Rusties and pre-Rusties had once offered up to their invisible superheroes in the sky.

  After a few minutes, Shay fell silent, and again the group stood without saying a word, all shivering in the cold except the apparently insane Shay. Tally realized that the non-Crims all had flash tattoos on their faces, fresh-looking surge that glistened in the rain. She guessed that since the stadium disaster, swirly face tattoos must be the rage, but it was an awfully big coincidence that all seven of the unknown pretties had them.

  "Those pings from wannabees," she whispered. "Shay's been recruiting."

  "But why?" Zane hissed. "We all agreed that newbies were the last thing we need right now."

  "Maybe she needs them."

  "For what?"

  A shiver went through Tally. "For this."

  Zane swore. "We'll just veto them."

  Tally shook her head. "I don't think she cares about vetoes. I'm not sure if she's still a—" Shay's voice cut through the rain again. She reached into her back pocket and produced an object that glittered coldly in the gray light. It unfolded into a long knife.

  Tally's eyes widened, but none of the pretties in the circle looked surprised; their expressions revealed a mix of queasy fear and excitement.

  Holding the knife aloft, Shay spoke more words in the same slow, deliberate cadence, and Tally heard one repeated enough to make it out.

  It sounded like "Cutters."

  "Let's get out of here," she said so softly that Zane must not have heard. She wanted to climb on her hoverboard and flee, but Tally found she couldn't move, or look away, or close her eyes.

  Shay took the knife with her left hand and placed its edge against her right forearm, the wet metal gleaming. She raised both arms, turning slowly, fixing each of the others with her burning gaze. Then she looked up into the rain.

  The movement was so slight that Tally hardly saw it from their hiding place, but she knew what had happened from the reactions of the others. Their bodies shuddered, eyes widening with horrified fascination — like Tally, they couldn't look away.

  Then she saw the blood begin to trickle from the wound. It ran thinly in the rain, spreading down Shay's upraised arm and onto her shoulder, reaching her shirt, spreading a color that was more pink than red.

  She turned around once to give them all a good look, her slow, deliberate movements as disturbing as the blood running down her arm. The others were shivering visibly now, shooting furtive glances at one another.

  Shay finally lowered her arm, swaying a little on her feet, and held out the knife. Ho stepped forward to take it from her, and she took his place in the circle.

  "What is this?" Zane whispered.

  Tally shook her head and closed her eyes. The rain became suddenly deafening around her, but she heard her own words through the torrent. "This is Shay's new cure."

  The others followed one by one.

  Tally kept on expecting them to run, thinking that if only one of them would make a break for it, the rest would scatter into the forest like scared rabbits. But something— the bleak setting, the spirit-sapping rain, or maybe the crazed expression on Shay's face — bound them to their spots. They all watched, and then, one by one, they cut themselves. And as each did so, their faces transformed to become more like Shay's: ecstatic and insane.

  With every cut, Tally felt something hollowing out inside her. She couldn't forget that there was more to this ritual than madness. She remembered the night of the costume party. Her fear and panic had made her bubbly enough to pursue Croy but had left her still pretty-minded. It wasn't until after Peris's knee had struck her as he hoverbounced — opening up her eyebrow — that Tally's head had really become clear.

  Shay had admired that scar; she'd been the one to suggest getting a tattoo to commemorate it. Apparently she'd also understood how that injury had changed Tally, leading her to Zane, to the top of the transmission tower, and finally to the cure.

  And now Shay was sharing her knowledge.

  "This is our fault," Tally whispered.

  "What?"

  Tally opened her gloved hands toward the tableaux before them. She and Zane had given Shay what she needed to spread this cure: citywide fame, hundreds of pretties all dying to become Crims — bleeding to become Crims.

  Or whatever they were becoming. "Cutters," Shay had said.

  "She's not one of us anymore."

  "Why are we just sitting here?" Zane hissed. His fists were clenched, his face reddening in the shadow of his hood.

  "Zane, calm down." Tally took his hand.

  "We should make her …" His voice trailed off with a choked-sounding cough, his eyes wide.

  "Zane?" she whispered.

  He was struggling for breath, hands clutching at empty air.

  "Zane!" Tally cried aloud. She grabbed his other hand, staring into his bulging eyes. He wasn't breathing.

  Tally glanced into the clearing, desperate for help from someone, anyone — even the Cutters. A few of the distant figures had heard her cry, but they only stared wide-eyed at her, blood flowing and flash tattoos
spinning, too zoned out to be of any help.

  She reached for her cuff, tearing off the black scarf to send a distress ping. But Zane's hand reached out to grab her. He shook his head painfully. "No."

  "Zane, you need help!"

  "I'm okay. …" The words tore from his throat.

  She paused a moment, imagining him dying here in her arms. But if she called the wardens, they might both wind up under the surgeon's knife, pretty-minded for good— leaving Shay's cure as the only one in town. "All right," she said. "But I'm taking you to the hospital."

  "No!"

  "Not inside. Just as close as we can get. We'll wait there and see what happens."

  Tally rolled Zane onto her hoverboard and snapped her fingers, watching as it rose into the air. She lay on top of him, feeling the board settle uneasily under their combined weight. The lifters held, and she pushed forward carefully.

  As the board began to move, she glanced back at the clearing. All ten of them were staring at Tally and Zane now. Shay was walking toward them, her glare as cold as the rain.

  Suddenly, Tally was overwhelmed with fear, the same terror she felt at the sight of Specials. She pushed off hard with her feet, leaning forward and climbing into the trees, leaving the place behind.

  The ride down to the river was terrifying. Zane's limbs sprawled out in all directions, his shifting weight threatening to tip the board over with every turn. Tally wrapped her arms around him, fingernails scraping across the board's knobbly underside. She steered with her flailing legs, her turns as wide as a stumbling drunk's. The cold rain spat into her face, and Tally remembered the goggles in her coat pocket, but there was no way of getting at them without stopping.

  And there wasn't time to stop.

  They hurtled among the trees, the board picking up speed as they descended toward the river. Pine branches, heavy and glistening with captured raindrops, reared up out of the rain to slash her face. When they finally burst out of Cleopatra Park, Tally cut across a belt of muddy sports fields at top speed, angling toward the far end of the central island.